Instagram selfies

After coming back from summer vacation, my students and I discussed all of the fun things we did.  We also discussed what a "selfie" is.  From there our topics lead to apps we might use to share our "selfies".  We talked about instagram and what it is used for.  We also discussed what a hashtag is and why people use them.  I talked about the search tool that it is.  Most were unaware that you can search a hashtag to find things.  The students then created a small selfie with a background that represents either a place they went this summer or somewhere they might want to go to.  We ended up gluing them all together onto a large screenshot of an Instagram page.  Since our school is Robert C. Lindsey, we called it Lindsagram!  I love how the collage selfies came out!

Winter scenes

First graders did a great job painting winter scenes using tempera and cut out birds

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Kindergarten Wassily Kandinsky

Third grade weavings

Thanks to my cousin Susan who is an interior designer in the area, we were given an abundance of fabric samples.  In the middle of the night, of course, it hits me that I can use these fabric samples, all about a 12x18 size, as the warp for my weavings this year.  We focus on fibers and the students learn about how fibers make up materials and where you can find them.  We use a variety of things to weave including, yarn, raffia, fabric, ribbon, pipe cleaners, etc.  The students did okay with this lesson.  They were hard to keep together so we had to tape the backs of them to hold them tighter.

2nd grade Sugar Skulls/suns

This year in second grade I decided to try a new lesson.  I have always been fascinated with the are of Mexico but have never attempted to do a Sugar skull lesson. I found some on Pinterest that sparked my interest. (dont mind the rhyme).  My biggest challenge was how to present this lesson for the few students I have who are Jehovah Witness. Since Sugar Skulls originate from the Holiday of Day of the Dead, this was going to be hard with students that cannot celebrate or have really much to do with any type of holiday. I contacted the parents first and explained what the holiday was, and that it really is part of Mexican culture.  The parents agreed they wanted their child to learn about the culture but didnt want them to do a sugar skull, so I modified theirs to be a sun design, since the Mexican culture and arts use the sun for much of their art and symbols.  I had the students watch some utube videos of Dia de los Muertos and then a small presentation I put together on SMART board.  They students were really modivated and excited.  It helped that the Book of Life movie was out in theatres also!  Students used a tracer to create the skull or sun.  They used markers to color a design they did in pencil first.  Then they measured out a border and chose two things from their designs that they could repeat to create a pattern around the edge.  They then colored those in oil pastel.  Then they glued the skull/sun on.

Kindergarten pattern mats

I wanted a change to the usual pattern project so I incoporated line and shape and pattern to it.  They got four strips each that they had to  cut in two with a line, either straight, curve, zigzag and wavy.  They then created an oil pated pattern on each of the eight strips.  Then they glued them onto a 12x18 colored paper.  After that they tied yarn (yes they all did it somehow after I showed a few different ways).  They came out pretty good.